Universal v. Disney – A Diehard Disney [Radio] Fanatic’s Opinion

[RadioFanatic]

Raising right hand.[/I] I, RadioFanatic, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me [insert favorite Diety here].

First, Hello, My name is RadioFanatic, and I am a Disney Junkie. Hello RadioFanatic.

Second, I took my Universal trip from January 5-9, 2006 and am just getting to my report now. [GASP!!!!!!! ] [okay, I didn’t know how to write the gasp sound, so this is as good as it gets folks].

Third, I refuse to write a whole report on a day-to-day “this is what we did” basis because (a) I’m not vettechick, zzurb, PrincessAurora or Del’s wife; and thus (b) I just stink at writing such reports. I’m a list maker people – very right brain sort of person. If it’s not in a list, it’s not me. So unless you want a minute by minute chronological breakdown of what we did, by the second, like this:

3:45:03 a.m.: Heard alarm
3:45:58 a.m.: Cussed loudly and smacked cruddy clock.
3:46:32 a.m.: Smacked Mr. RadioFanatic on the side of the head to get him up.
3:46:43 a.m.: Melted to the floor screaming in agony from Mr. RadioFanatic’s laser vision glare of death.

Well, you get the drill – you don’t want that.

So, what I plan to do is threefold. First, I’ll post what I liked better about Disney over Universal.

Second, I’ll tell you, in a magnificently charted list of course, what I liked better about Universal over Disney.

And third, but certainly not least, I’ll post the restaurants we went to, including an item by item breakdown of cost and what I saved using my lovely AAA card.

 

[RadioFanatic]

But even before all of that, I must explain to you from where I am coming in doing this report and why I’m doing it this way.

I’m doing it this way because I wish someone had done it for me before I went to Universal this past trip. GASP!!!!!!! [I know, I know, it’s not really what people say. Get over it.]

You see, I had a lot of questions. And people were VERY helpful and nice about them. But it seemed like no one wanted to compare the two too much because the Universal folks felt you were betraying them if you compared it to Disney and the Disney folks felt you were betraying them if you compared something to Universal.

So, with the greatest of ease, I am going to offend both and do exactly that.

No, no one told me about all of the betrayal hoopla – I just decided that’s what it was myself.

And yes, I have been to Universal before. But I’m a Disney gal at heart. Went there twice last year; went for our honeymoon; go almost every other year, Mr. RadioFanatic and I just love what we call the Disney EXPERIENCE. The day, night, waking, sleeping, eating, breathing EXPERIENCE. Y’all know what I mean.

We’ve never considered Universal to be an experience. Yes, we have gone before, and yes, we have had a blast; however, we would just usually go for a day or two at most and enjoy ourselves and then hop back to the Disney EXPERIENCE.

Well, not this time folks. We were going all out. We were going to try the Universal EXPERIENCE. Yes, we were afraid lightening was going to strike, we were going to be hit by a truck, a tree was going to fall on us, we were going to fall from a very high skyscraper in a single bound and thud because [GASP] WE WERE NOT GOING TO STEP ON DISNEY SOIL ONCE DURING THIS TRIP. [aah, thud]. And we were actually going to stay on site.

And why were we doing this crazy, harebrained act of insanity do you ask? Because I gave Mr. RadioFanatic this trip as a Christmas present and he didn’t know what I was going to do to him. And because, in October, when we went to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights (which I would highly recommend to anyone over 14 years of age), hubby wasn’t able to ride the Mummy and he was very disappointed by that.

So, off we went to Universal and had a great time, even though we froze our patooties off most of the time.

 

[RadioFanatic]

So now, without further ado (or procrastination) is the report to help you determine which had the best of which. [yes, I could have written that statement better, but it’s been a long day so cut me some slack].

What Disney Does Better Than Universal:

1. The scenery. When you are in WDW, you can’t see the outside world. AT ALL. Everything is “disneyfied”. You don’t see real life thank goodness. Not so at Universal. From our window, although we had a good view, we could see the highway. YUK! At Disney, that would never happen. At least it never happened to us.

2. The Characters. Although Mr. RadioFanatic was happy to see his superheroes, especially his favorite Captain America, the full costumed characters seemed like the material was cheaply made; and quite frankly, kind of scary looking. The lines for characters at Universal were only 2 or 3 people at the most because honestly, no one gave a flying fig to have their picture taken with the cruddy characters.

3. The Seats on the Rides. At WDW, you never really have to worry if you are going to fit into a ride, whether it’s something as easy as HM or a roller coaster. Not so at Universal. They have the “special” seats which are only 1 or 2 per ride and even then I saw people not fitting into them. It’s really sad to see those people not making it on and it’s embarrassing. I don’t understand why Universal has such a tough time making seats that are a little larger – WDW sure doesn’t.

4. The shows. Enough said. No one does a show like Disney and they should just give up trying. And who the heck wants to watch Fear Factor live? I don’t want to watch it on TV, but at least there is a piece of glass separating me from the grossness. I don’t need it up close and personal. Also, we went to the Horror Makeup show which was nothing about horror makeup and just a comedy fest, something it’s not advertised to be. Although it was funny, Mr. RadioFanatic and I were disappointed because we wanted to really see how the makeup is applied.

5. The Polynesian Luau show. We did this at the Royal Pacific and it was a waste of money (and no AAA discount either). We love the one at the Poly but this one was sorely lacking. And the worse part was because of the weather, we were stuck inside one of their ballrooms which made it much worse. We felt like we were at a cruddy wedding reception, stuck with people we didn’t know as it was a table of 8. At the Poly, because of the facility it is in, no matter the weather, we would still have the atmosphere. And we could sit by ourselves. And the food wasn’t so hot and the drinks were blah and in boring glasses. Save your money and eat on City Walk.

6. Character Meals. This kind of goes with number 2, but I wanted to put it in a separate place. Universal has just one meal, with Spidey, thing one and two and that’s about it. Why not do a superhero meal (which we probably would have went to), a Dr. Suess meal, a Nickalodean meal, etc.?

7. Souvenirs. Other than pictures and the comic book stuff my hubby wanted, we didn’t buy much at Universal as there really wasn’t much I wanted. At WDW, however, I just can’t seem to get enough of the collectibles.

 

[RadioFanatic]

What Universal Does Better than Disney:

1. Hotel. We stayed at the Royal Pacific and the only thing I can say is – OH MY GOSH. It was absolutely amazing from the lobby to the decorations to the service to the pool and most of all to our room. It was really beautiful. I kept tell Mr. RadioFanatic that I wanted my bedroom at home to look like this room. It was nicer than any of the rooms that I have stayed at WDW and I’ve stayed at BWV, AKL, Port Orleans, Pop, AsMusic; and I’ve looked in all of the other hotels too. And I didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it, only $150 per night. Unlike the plus $300 I spent at AKL which wasn’t worth it. And the bathroom was gorgeous too, all marble and everything. I loved this place. The service people were ALWAYS happy to help and I didn’t get attitude from anyone at all.

2. FOTL – i.e. “Front of the Line” pass. Forget fastpass people- that’s got NOTHIN’ on this feature. If you stay at one of the onsite hotels. You get front of the line pass meaning you essentially get to wave at all of those people in the line and walk on by to get on the ride in the front. The most we had to wait was 5 minutes and that was on The Mummy.

3. AAA discount. We used our AAA discount on all meals and souvenirs. All told, we saved, at 10%, about $100-150. Not too shabby and something WDW doesn’t have.

4. Easy Access to Parks. A ten minute walk away from hotel to everything. No long bus rides, no long boat rides , just an easy walk and hey – we’re in the middle fun! After all of the travel snafus at the supposedly deluxe resort of BWV at our trip in October, 2005 (don’t get me wrong we LOVE BWV – just hated the transportation system), it was nice to be able to get to the parks quickly without rushing or an hour travel time each way for 2 miles.

5. Spiderman Ride. There is nothing else like it and our favorite ride ever. Even though the Mummy is great too, Spidey has it all. And WDW has nothing like it.

6. The Relaxed Attitude. I don’t know why, but things just seemed more relaxed than at WDW. No need to rush, just enjoying ourselves. It seemed like a more relaxed trip than the ones we take at WDW.

7. The Food. With the exception of NBA and the Luau [YUK! GAG!] we really enjoyed all of our meals and didn’t feel like we were spending a fortune for them like at WDW. Our meals averaged about $30-40 for dinner and less for lunch and we would have an appetizer each, entrée and sometimes dessert. A similar meal at WDW would be about $100 per couple. So we felt we saved a lot of money in that arena without really trying.

 

[RadioFanatic]

Other things we loved at Universal but were pretty much equal with WDW:

1. Pools. We really liked the pool at the Royal Pacific, but we also love the ones at WDW.

2. Rides. Yes, I know the rides are really different at the two parks, but we enjoy both, for different reasons.

3. Decorations in the Parks. Once again, decorations are very different but both enjoyable.

4. CityWalk/DTD. I like them both equally – we enjoyed the aspects of both. Although different, they fulfill the same need/want.

So which would I choose? Honestly, I love WDW best, but I think it is because of the history, memories and collections I have made over the years. Mr. RadioFantic and I both enjoyed Universal tremendously and really did get the Universal EXPERIENCE and do intend to go back. We really had a blast. But WDW will always be in my heart. Don’t get me wrong though – you’ll be seeing me at Universal soon.

Next up: Restaurant Costs and reviews.

 

[lindalinda]

Excellent report! I agree on the relaxed atmosphere
Thats really my favorite part (and why I'm a big US fan)

 

[Sylvester McBean]

WDW better than UO:
I agree with you on scenery and immersiveness. WDW has 47 sq. miles to work with and they do a good job (except for the swan and dolphin ruining the sightlines). characters are all relative. I think the Dora costume is exceptional. seats, no experience there. shows and parades, no one tops Disney in this category. luau and character meals at UO, no experience. souvenirs, it's hit and miss at both parks. my wife is an old school mickey collector, so she's usually disappointed. my daughter loves spongebob, so she does well.

UO better than WDW:
hotels...yes, yes, yes. no one believes that the most inexpensive of resorts on property could be so beautiful and superior to WDW resorts until they stay there. I'm not going to lament on FOTL. discounts are abundant, unlike WDW. the relaxing tone of an onsite vacation and the proximity of the parks is why we always urge people to end their trip at UO. park food is about the same for me in both places, but I like the AP discounts and the selection of Citywalk well over Disney. as far as rides both space mountain and the hulk scratch different itches in me. EE is a step in the right direction at Disney, and IOA needs some new thrills.

nice, well-rounded trip report.

 

[goofie4goofy]

I am a "lister" too

Love your report. To the point, enjoyable and easy to read.

We love both WDW and USO equally for different reasons too.

I don't know about the ride seats being too small, I am 5'10 and my DH 6'5 and neither one of us have a problem fitting into reguar seats, and we are by far taller than the average person. I never noticed the bigger seats, I did not know they even made bigger seats. Not to be rude and don't take this the wrong way, but just how big are the seats supposed to be? I do know the rides at USO are different than at WDW like the Hulk, Dueling Dragons....but maybe the problem is not the seats, but people are just getting too large.

 

[wright1baby]

Thanks so much for your review! We are heading to US for the first time in a couple of days! Can't wait!!

 

[Foladar]

Great report
I agree on the majority, but I disagree on the shows .. sure, Disney probably does it better .. but Universal has some decent shows - Fear Factor Live is great and Souvenirs .. I can't see what they don't have personally, but everyone experiences different. And I can agree on the relaxed attitude, we felt rushed at Disney .. but with FOTL (atleast thats my reasoning for the relaxed) we can just walk on the rides, walk off .. go to hotel, come back later and finish .. it's great!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Great trip report! Thanks for posting.

The only thing I'd add about how UO is better than WDW in the food category is you really don't have to fuss with ADRs six months out from your trip to eat at a good restaurant at UO. This is one of the biggest reasons we stay on site at UO but drive to a WDW park during the day. We always know we'll get a good dinner back "home" without having to stress and plan months out.

I suppose this point could also go in your relaxation category, too

 

[RadioFanatic]

Great trip report! Thanks for posting.

The only thing I'd add about how UO is better than WDW in the food category is you really don't have to fuss with ADRs six months out from your trip to eat at a good restaurant at UO. This is one of the biggest reasons we stay on site at UO but drive to a WDW park during the day. We always know we'll get a good dinner back "home" without having to stress and plan months out.

I suppose this point could also go in your relaxation category, too

Plutoluvr, I definitely agree with you about the ADR thing. I loved not having to know where I was going to eat each night six months earlier when I didn't even know what I was going to eat for dinner the night I had to make the reservation - walked right into each restaurant and had to wait 5 minutes at most - even at the most popular places!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I loved not having to know where I was going to eat each night six months earlier when I didn't even know what I was going to eat for dinner the night I had to make the reservation

I can totally relate! WDW is the only vacation I've ever taken where I have to think about what I'm going to feel like eating on any given day six months from now.

On a side note, I think WDW is attempting to address this. I've noticed when I go to AK for the day, all the CS places we've tried have been fantastic. No need to worry about an ADR there. Funny, too, because I always think of AK as a "relaxing" park. I can't help but wonder if this is one of the reasons why.

I remember back when there were only a few good places to eat at WDW. If you didn't have a reservation or PS somewhere, you were stuck eating cold pizza or a hockey-puck burger. Now it seems they've added more "good" restaurants, a few "exceptional" ones, some fixin' bars at the CS joints and folks just go ADR crazy. I get my ADR for Jiko still, but other than that, I much prefer City or the restaurants at the UO resorts.

Glad you and Mr. had a great trip! Now that you love both, the trick is getting to enjoy it all in Orlando with a limited amount of time

 

[damo]

Great lists. My only response is to the seat size on the rollercoasters. Since the coasters are made by B&M, the parks need to stick with what the manufacturer has prototyped and determined to be safe. B&M is the world's top roller coaster manufacturer and you can't really say, "Excuse me, can you please redesign your ride?" Those are their seats and they are consistent throughout the world.

I imagine Universal could have lowered their standards and gone with a manufacturer with different seats, but the end product would have been inferior.

 

[ChrisFL]

Actually I like a lot of the souveniers at UO, especially in the Lost Continent area...and most gift shops are different, not the same shirts, mugs, etc. everywhere.

You can buy swords and armor, specially made coins (not the penny ones either!), hand crafted things like windchimes (IIRC), sculptures (I have a few dragon sculptures), and I can't forget the MIB flashy thingy!

 

[PavelB]

Plutoluvr,
I completely agree about the whole dining reservation thing. I absolutely cannot know where we are going to be, let alone what we are going to want to eat on any day on our trip in 3 weeks. (let alone 180 days) I am really getting nervous about getting stuck. I made adrs but the odds are they won't work for us.

On another note, we were a WDW family for many years. We first went to the RPH 2 summers ago and we were hooked. My kids, teenagers, love the rides and FOTL. I love the walk to the parks. Where else can you go for 5 days and not get into a car once? I spend half my life driving the kids around and my husband travels a lot for work so for us this is heaven.
(We almost always use a car at WDW because we like to hop so much. We'll go to BB in the morning and then to DTD for lunch, etc.)
I also think that Universal is easier when there are multiple families and ages. The logistics are so much easier. If any members of your party have had enough of the parks, they can just walk back to the hotel and hang out at the pool. If you have some that like to sleep in late, or just use the workout room in the morning, it is easy to meet up.

For our family Universal is much cheaper. The RPH is a beautiful hotel for just $159 per night and the 5 day pass for $100 can't be beat.

Don't get me wrong, we will still go to WDW (over the objections of DS18), but in some ways Universal cannot be beat.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I hear you about getting "stuck" without ADRs, Pavel. That's happened to our family back in '98 staying on site at WDW. I mean, Earl of Sandwich is great, but after eating our dinner there day after day, it did get old. We were staying at one of the All Star hotels at WDW, and we weren't fond of the cafeteria there at all -- nor the noise level!

I enjoy planning as much as the next guy, but WDW ADRs are too extreme and stressful for me.

 

[Jenn]

Thanks so much for your reviews! We are leaving Friday for our first ever Universal trip after years of Disney trips. We are total Disney freaks, and have never tried Universal. However, this opportunity was too good to pass up. My husband's company is hosting a conference at RPR, so he has to be there for 5 days. The room, his airfare, his food, and airport transportation/parking are all paid for by the company. So, we had to pay for airfare for me and our 2 girls ($600), our passes ($200), and our food. Can't beat that!

 

[RadioFanatic]

Thanks Jen! And I hope you have a blast - i know we did! And I still plan to do the restaurant reviews, I still have the receipts and everything. Just a bit behind the times on it.

 

[wicket2005]

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed your report. We are off to RPR next year and really like the thought of being close to the Universal Parks (which are our favourites). We have never stayed on site at Disney, it isn't something we really fancied.